Wild Plants Of Note

While we know that certain illnesses will require specific medicines, some ailments may be treatable using the wild flora at hand. At this time, I would like to share my research of which plants are readily obtainable remedies for gut and parasite afflictions, such as dysentery (diarrhea).


PARASITES/DYSENTERY:

Wild Garlic (with Nettle): (To help expel gut parasites, help stop diarrhea, and use as food):

From the video below, Dr. Oz recommends 2 large cloves per day for 6 weeks. If what I read is true, that wild garlic is milder, than I would suggest the below recommendation of 4-6 cloves per day for adults (depending on weight) for 6 weeks. Recommendations for common garlic are to use four to six g per day. Scientific studies have shown, that only one gram of Wild Garlic per day is beneficial.”



www.alive.com...


Foraging for wild garlic:



Garlic has so many more benefits as listed in the Wikipedia link below.

en.wikipedia.org...


Wormwood:

Although Dr. Oz recommends wormwood tea, there are too many contraindications in using this, so I will just skip over this plant in favor of other safer plants. However it didn’t get it’s name for nothing.

www.emaxhealth.com...


Nettle: for dysentery, parasites, and all around curative and healthful food;

diarrheam.blogspot.ca...

The Iroquois used the root only, steeped it into a tea. As they left no dosage information except that steeped root teas should be taken in one mouthful dose 2-3X/Day until the condition is cured – normally 10 – 14 days, but that is why they had medicine men who could determine how and how long to proceed the treatment.

Common dosage:

www.herballegacy.com...




Red Sumac (Red Berried Plant Only) – Anti-diarrheal and food source:

“Sumac is an astringent, and it's been used in herbal medicine as an antiseptic and tonic. Sumac pink lemonade was used for fever. It may not get rid of the fever, but like lemonade, it will make the patient fell a little cooler.

"A decoction of the cambium or an infusion of the leaves has been used for diarrhea, dysentery, asthma, urinary tract infections, sore throat, chronic gum problems, and cold sores. The Native Americans chewed the root to ease swollen or infected gums and to stop kids' bed-wetting, and they applied sumac compresses to burns and cuts, to stop bleeding, and reduce swelling. This plant certainly merits scientific testing.”

www.wildmanstevebrill.com...

The Iroquois cut off “growths” that sometimes appeared on the tree then, dried, pulverized this growth then made a decoction to treat obstinate dysentery. They would also use sumac flowers in combination with alum root to treat the sore mouths of teething babies.


How to keep your gut acidic:

Learn how to forage for and then eat plenty of fruit and berries.
How to make your own organic vinegar.





Don’t over hydrate with water.

Don’t eat too much fiber rich foods.

Honey - can be also be used to treat wounds.

“We can recommend patients with lowered stomach acidity to take cold honey solution (50g of honey in 100ml of water at 13-15°C, immediately before meals, three times a day) instead of chemically based drugs. As for increased acidity, warm honey solution (50g of honey in 100ml of water at 35-40°C) is to be applied 1-1.5 hours after meals (after breakfast and lunch, since food itself has the function of neutralizing the acid) and one hour before sleeping, since honey has sedative effect.”

pcela.rs...

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If we all only learn a lot about the few of the common medicinal plants that can be used both as medicines and food, it can only help our and others' chances for survival.

reply to post by InTheLight


A nice way to eat raw garlic is to make a sauce. Get some raw garlic and put it in olive oil or something similar and put in in a food processor for a couple of minutes it changes colour and goes white.. A lovely strong dipping sauce.. s/f :-)

May I recommend Mosby's Handbook of Herbs and Supplements? It has a few hundred pages of info on medicinal herbs/plants, tells when to gather them, what part to use, how to prepare it, what dosage to give, what contraindications or precautions one needs to note and lists what scientific studies have shown regarding the plant.

Garlic is great for a multitude of things but eating alliums (garlic and/or onions) can cause anemia if consumed for long periods of time or if eaten in excess.

purplemer
reply to post by InTheLight

 

A nice way to eat raw garlic is to make a sauce. Get some raw garlic and put it in olive oil or something similar and put in in a food processor for a couple of minutes it changes colour and goes white.. A lovely strong dipping sauce.. s/f :-)

That's great advice, because using garlic as a medicine calls for eating it raw and there's no way I can eat 4-6 cloves of garlic a day for 6 weeks...yuk. I would also suggest experimentation would be the order of the day, such as adding other common plants, such as nettle, or a sweetener such as honey or cooked maple sap.

whitewave
May I recommend Mosby's Handbook of Herbs and Supplements? It has a few hundred pages of info on medicinal herbs/plants, tells when to gather them, what part to use, how to prepare it, what dosage to give, what contraindications or precautions one needs to note and lists what scientific studies have shown regarding the plant.

Garlic is great for a multitude of things but eating alliums (garlic and/or onions) can cause anemia if consumed for long periods of time or if eaten in excess.

Thank you for the book recommendation but I have so many books at this time, I think I'm swamped with information.

As for the garlic, yes, I read that too. So the old saying 'everything in moderation' should apply in medicine and nutrition in the wild. As for large doses of garlic used medicinally, it should be stopped within 6 weeks or before that should the illness improve. It's almost akin to learning the art of shamanic doctoring in the wild by experimentation and observation.

However, having said that I recall watching a documentary of garlic lovers who formed their own club. They eat a lot of it...I mean a lot in every meal, every day and they all looked healthy to me.

reply to post by InTheLight


Nice plant to grow too. it likes well drained soil. You can treat it like a perinial if you cut the seed head off.. Then you can leave it in the ground over winter.. it works for me anyways..

reply to post by InTheLight


Really good info, thanks. There was a post the other day about the multiple uses and benefits of honey. Should the grid ever go black or we experience some other catastrophic event, this information will become gold.

The garlic doesn't surprise me. You can also use it in aquarium fish if you make your own fish food. It's supposed to be good for internal parasites with them, too.

purplemer
reply to post by InTheLight

 

Nice plant to grow too. it likes well drained soil. You can treat it like a perinial if you cut the seed head off.. Then you can leave it in the ground over winter.. it works for me anyways..

That's good to know if one is to stay put and start a subsistence farm, but for immediate medicinal purposes and if people are on the move, I think I would rather gather it from the wild then dry it, the pulverize it for inclusion with other medicines.

DrumStickNinja
reply to post by InTheLight

 

Really good info, thanks. There was a post the other day about the multiple uses and benefits of honey. Should the grid ever go black or we experience some other catastrophic event, this information will become gold.

For sure it's precious information that could save lives. As for honey, I keep reading more and more about it's benefits, but I just don't have the time to delve into it right now. Also, it's not just the honey, but the royal jelly and pollen too.

ketsuko
The garlic doesn't surprise me. You can also use it in aquarium fish if you make your own fish food. It's supposed to be good for internal parasites with them, too.

That's interesting, but I read one opinion that it should never be given to dogs as it would be toxic to them. But, then again, that was only one opinion. This is something I should research because I'm sure we'll have pets' problems to deal with too.

reply to post by InTheLight


Garlic is ok to use externally on dogs...and it can be eaten by dogs but there are specific doses for the dogs weight as it is toxic to dogs if they are given to much..

purplemer
reply to post by InTheLight

 

Garlic is ok to use externally on dogs...and it can be eaten by dogs but there are specific doses for the dogs weight as it is toxic to dogs if they are given to much..

Indeed, weight plays a crucial role in determining dosage.

The Iroquis had a rule of thumb whereby only a mouthful of medicinal tea should be taken as a dosage, therefore a toddler's mouthful would be substantially less than a grown man's mouthful, this would also apply to the amount of pulverized dry root or plant parts used to make the tea, but measured according to how much fit in the patient's hand.

But, this reasoning is much too odd for me and I would rather approach dosages, specifically by weight as you pointed out.

Malnutrition and lack of certain vitamins will certainly cause many to fall seriously ill, so the following gives advice on which edibles to incorporate into the diet to prevent illness.

Vitamin C Deficiency (Ascorbic Acid)

Disease: Scurvy

Adults:
- Feeling out of sorts
- Pain in limbs/joints
- small red/blue spots on skin
- swelling (various parts of body)
Infants:
- As above
- Diarhhea
- Fever 100.4 deg. F, or above.

Nettle (from above link) has enough Vitamin C to prevent scurvy. So far nettle is the most essential plant for medicinal and nutritive purposes.

www.herballegacy.com...

Rosehips used fresh as a lightly brewed tea will provide enough Vitamin C.

www.webmd.com...

Chewing pine needles will provide enough of this vitamin as well. Steeping too long into a tea may destroy this vitamin.

www.ruralsurvival.info...

Just a recap about using nettles to combat some nutritional illnesses. The link below has tables showing vitamin and mineral content. I was surprise to see that there is no Vitamin C or D, however that may have been destroyed upon blanching (cooking) as other sources include these two vitamins.

So in my research of the most prevalent illness may be eliminated by using nettle, and they are:

Rickets (young growing children)/bone health in pre- and post-menopausal women - Vitamin D and Calcium deficiencies
Newborn healthy growth - Vitamin K deficiency
Night blindless/visual loss - Vitamin A deficiency (although young willow leaves are best)
Scurvy (uncooked nettle leaves) - Vitamin C deficiency
Adrenal and nervous system health/neonatal jaundice/anemia/cognitive health - Riboflavin/Niacin (B2/B3) deficiency (also found in mushrooms)



skipthepie.org...

The above site also allows you to do a nutrition comparison of nettles to other wild foods, should you want to make salads or stews to incorporate the most easily accessible and wild foods for optimum nutrition.

Nettles vs young willow greens:

skipthepie.org...

reply to post by InTheLight


Thanks!

Plantain is another good wild weed. You can use the fresh leaves to calm irritation from bug bites or minor burns. Simply crush the leaf in your fingers, break it up until you get a bit of juice and apply as needed. It works pretty well, and plantain is found in almost all growing zones in different forms. Mine is just a small little weed but is related to the larger plantain that produces the actual fruit. I believe they all work in such a fashion, but I'm only familiar with my little mini weed way up north.

woodsmom
reply to post by InTheLight

 

Thanks!

Plantain is another good wild weed. You can use the fresh leaves to calm irritation from bug bites or minor burns. Simply crush the leaf in your fingers, break it up until you get a bit of juice and apply as needed. It works pretty well, and plantain is found in almost all growing zones in different forms. Mine is just a small little weed but is related to the larger plantain that produces the actual fruit. I believe they all work in such a fashion, but I'm only familiar with my little mini weed way up north.

Thank you woodsmom I appreciate your contribution. Actually plantain is edible and has 10gm of salt/Vit. A/Vit. C in one cooked serving (salt is almost impossible to find in the wild) and this plant (and dandelion) were my next study in combining wild greens into salads or stews to help prevent horrible diseases and/or use as medicine.

I was also going to briefly touch upon wound management, antibiotics (? this will be a toughy), antibacterial/fungal, lung problems etc. - but I want to focus just on wild plants that can do double duty (such as plantain) in nutrition and first aid-medicine.

A word of caution:

Never eat a berry or plant that you can't 100% identify. There may be berries that look very similar to others that will make you sick. The same goes for wild mushrooms. I recommend people go foraging with an expert to gain real world experience.

Pictures in books are great to get you started -- but sometimes they plants don't look exactly like they do in the books. Be safe out there folks!

Proper identification is, indeed, vital for survival.

I recommended sumac, but this bush has a poisonous species with white berries and there are also poisonous mushrooms that look exactly like the edible variety. So, it cannot be stressed enough to take it upon yourself to go out for a walk in the wild (within the city and without) and learn to identify the few species (hopefully during all seasons) of plants, that I will mention on this thread, that will serve you well in both nutritional and medicinal needs.

Remember, most plants have natural defences, such a stinging nettle ("it will sting you and it will cause a rash"), so use common sense and protect yourself when gathering it.

More on stinging nettle...here is what one forager has to say about it.

Nettle is a constant friend. I find it wondrous that one plant can bring such richness to my life. It is a regular part of my diet, an essential tool in my medicine kit and a keeper of cultural teachings, both ancient and new. I mark seasonal changes by where nettle is in its life cycle.

wildfoodsandmedicines.com...

Excellent harvesting tips here:

wildfoodsandmedicines.com...

reply to post by InTheLight


Hi there

This little plant is actually very useful.. It grows everywhere over here in the UK and seemingly in the US and Canada too. Mainly folk think it a weed. But it is so much more than that....! Does it grow where you live...?

Plantain has often been the go-to remedy for hikers plagued by mosquitos. Because it draws toxins from the body with its astringent nature, plantain may be crushed (or chewed) and placed as a poultice directly over the site of bee stings, bug bites, acne, slivers, glass splinters, or rashes. Bandage the area and allow the plantain to work its magic for 4-12 hours. Plantain may also be used to create a balm for emergency kits, or an infusion used as a skin or general wash. It is also a notable, soothing remedy for hemorrhoids.

Plantain is renowned for its healing effect on the digestive system. This is especially useful for anyone who has been damaged by antibiotics, anti-inflammatory or pain medications, food allergies, or Celiac disease. Both leaves and seeds specifically target the digestive system for healing. The leaves may be steeped as tea, added to soups, or dried with a sauce similar to kale chips. The seeds – a type of psyllium – can be ground or soaked for bulk mucilage or absorbable fibre, which, consumed before meals, may help with weight loss.

www.thefutureofhealthnow.com...

Plenty more to read on the link.. Could come in handy if you are out and about and need some herbal help....! s/f